March 11,2003
Los Angeles Times
EDITORIAL
Defend the Wildlife Too
Twenty years ago, America's battle-seasoned generals had about as much
desire to shelter the endangered woodpeckers on their training bases as
they had in running child-care centers for their soldiers' children. But
like it or not, they're doing both jobs now and doing them fairly well.
So it's puzzling, not to mention disheartening, that the Pentagon is
trying for a second year in a row to get Congress to grant it a blanket
exemption from major federal environmental laws.
On Thursday, members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees
will hear the military's top brass argue that these laws impede troop
training and readiness. But experience from around the country and a
recent report from the federal General Accounting Office greatly
undercut their case.
The new proposal, the Readiness and Range Preservation Initiative, would
excuse the military from enforcing much of the Clean Air Act, the
Endangered Species Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the
Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Superfund law.
This editorial can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/la-ed-enviro11mar11,0,7108468.story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~